Cholera may have caused outbreak

CEBU, Philippines- Preliminary tests show that the employees of a Danao City-based company who were reported to have diarrhea may have been infected by bacteria with characteristics similar to that of cholera, the Provincial Health Office said.

PHO head Cynthia Genosolango said the laboratory test on the rectal swab of one of the employees was subjected to bacterial culture, a process to propagate bacteria in a medium.

She disclosed that the bacteria growing in the medium showed features of “vibrio cholerae”, which causes cholera.

“It could be (cholera). But di pa definite,” she told reporters, adding that further observation needs be conducted to confirm the preliminary result.

Last week, at least 152 diarrhea cases were reported in Danao City involving employees of Mitsumi. Forty eight of the employees had to be admitted to different hospitals.

The PHO then fielded a team from its Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit to look into the incident and distribute chlorine to the City Health Office of Danao City for water treatment.

PESU also recorded two additional diarrhea cases from Mitsumi yesterday morning and samples from suspected sources that caused the diarrhea cases were subjected to laboratory test to determine which has presence of contaminants.

Also yesterday, PESU reported that a sample from Sabang water works in Danao tested positive of coliform bacteria.

Fecal microorganisms were also seen in the sample from the icemaker with the water used sourced from Sabang waterworks, Genosolango added.

PESU has advised the ice maker to refrain from getting water from the Sabang waterworks. The waterworks has also been directed to check possible leaks in its pipelines.

“The City Health authorities are now taking necessary actions,” she said.

Department of Health-7 Director Jaime Bernadas has reiterated that the situation in Danao has been controlled and treated. The agency has cleared Mitsumi’s internal water system as cause of the outbreak.

“Hopefully, effective ang atong actions taken, wala nay madugang, and that the local government unit will impose sanitation law,” Bernadas said.

DOH has also urged for strict compliance with sanitary requirements among food vendors, especially the ambulant ones.  (FREEMAN)